Hexakosiolhexekontahexaphobia
That's the technical term for fear of the number 666. You didn't need to know that yesterday. But today is the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year in this century. In numeric terms, this is 6-6-6. It won't be again for another hundred years. I'll be 148 then, and the date won't matter much to me. Or to you.
Imagine life on June 6, 1906. I did a little research this morning, and learned that Theodore Roosevelt was president that year, and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize as well. Life expectancy was 48.7 years (it's 77.6 now). Editorials in the newspapers were reporting on the women's suffrage movement and the likelihood of its success in coming years. (Women finally won the right to vote in 1920.) The earthquake which destroyed much of San Francisco on April 18 was still on everyone's mind. The Ford Model N was America's most popular car, retailing for $500.00.
This essay would have been produced on a manual typewriter (invented 32 years earlier), reproduced at a local print shop, and mailed (at a cost of two cents per letter). Given our current distribution list, the process would have cost around $1,000 per week. Progress is not all bad.
Now imagine life on June 6, 2106. You can't, or at least I can't. Will computers exist as distinct entities? (Probably not.) Will the Internet be so ubiquitous that people won't think of it at all? (Probably.) But human nature won't change. We'll still feel guilt over the past and fear of the unknown future. Today's date is an example.
666 is an ominous number for many, primarily because of its biblical significance. Revelation 13 warns of a "beast" which will accompany the "Antichrist" in wreaking havoc on earth. The "number" of the beast is 666 (Revelation 13:8). Most interpreters see the number as symbolic: seven was seen as the perfect number, so that six signifies imperfection. Anything repeated three times in the ancient world was raised to the highest level (think good, better, best). So the number six repeated three times would be the height of evil.
I don't really know the larger significance of 666, but I don't think today's date has much to do with it. I don't know who or what the Antichrist will be. Nor do you. Nor should we worry much about the question. God has given us this Tuesday. It's all there is. "Tomorrow" is just a word, not a reality. Obedience is success with our Father this morning. So stay faithful to the last word you heard from him, and open to the next. All of God there is, is in this day. No matter what your calendar says this morning.
Imagine life on June 6, 1906. I did a little research this morning, and learned that Theodore Roosevelt was president that year, and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize as well. Life expectancy was 48.7 years (it's 77.6 now). Editorials in the newspapers were reporting on the women's suffrage movement and the likelihood of its success in coming years. (Women finally won the right to vote in 1920.) The earthquake which destroyed much of San Francisco on April 18 was still on everyone's mind. The Ford Model N was America's most popular car, retailing for $500.00.
This essay would have been produced on a manual typewriter (invented 32 years earlier), reproduced at a local print shop, and mailed (at a cost of two cents per letter). Given our current distribution list, the process would have cost around $1,000 per week. Progress is not all bad.
Now imagine life on June 6, 2106. You can't, or at least I can't. Will computers exist as distinct entities? (Probably not.) Will the Internet be so ubiquitous that people won't think of it at all? (Probably.) But human nature won't change. We'll still feel guilt over the past and fear of the unknown future. Today's date is an example.
666 is an ominous number for many, primarily because of its biblical significance. Revelation 13 warns of a "beast" which will accompany the "Antichrist" in wreaking havoc on earth. The "number" of the beast is 666 (Revelation 13:8). Most interpreters see the number as symbolic: seven was seen as the perfect number, so that six signifies imperfection. Anything repeated three times in the ancient world was raised to the highest level (think good, better, best). So the number six repeated three times would be the height of evil.
I don't really know the larger significance of 666, but I don't think today's date has much to do with it. I don't know who or what the Antichrist will be. Nor do you. Nor should we worry much about the question. God has given us this Tuesday. It's all there is. "Tomorrow" is just a word, not a reality. Obedience is success with our Father this morning. So stay faithful to the last word you heard from him, and open to the next. All of God there is, is in this day. No matter what your calendar says this morning.
posted by God Issues at 9:13 AM
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